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[好文] 【一日一短文】私奔者的天堂Gretna Green [复制链接]

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发表于 2012-7-16 16:35:36 |显示全部楼层

本帖最后由滚吧肥汤圆于 2012-7-18 14:19 编辑

Gretna Green是一座苏格兰的边陲的小镇，同时它还有另一个名字——私奔者的天堂。之所以有这个名字，还要追溯到1753年。那会儿英格兰的法律是，男女必须满21岁家长同意的情况下才可以结婚。然而苏格兰方的老大不鸟这条法律，当时在苏格兰，只要男子年满14岁，女子年满12岁就可以自愿结婚。于是许多英格兰的小情侣，为了躲避家长的围捕与打压，就偷偷穿过边境线来到了这个离着英格兰最近的小镇注册结婚了。当然现在苏格兰的法律已经变成男女双方满16岁就可以自愿结合了，可是依然有很多情侣来这个小镇结婚，因此这个小镇也是苏格兰结婚典礼最多的地方之一。

Gretna Green is a village in the south of Scotland famous for runaway weddings. It is in Dumfries and Galloway, near the mouth of the River Esk and was historically the first village in Scotland, following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh. Gretna Green has a railway station serving both Gretna Green and Gretna. The Quintinshill rail crash, with 226 deaths the worst rail crash in British history, occurred near Gretna Green in 1915.

Gretna Green sits alongside the main town of Gretna. Both are accessed from the A74(M) motorway and are situated near to the border of Scotland with England.

Gretna Green is one of the world's most popular wedding destinations, hosting over 5000 weddings each year in the area, and one of every six Scottish weddings.

Gretna's famous "runaway marriages" began in 1753 when Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act was passed in England; it stated that if both parties to a marriage were not at least 21 years old, then parents had to consent to the marriage. The Act did not apply in Scotland, where it was possible for boys to marry at 14 and girls at 12 years old with or without parental consent (see Marriage in Scotland). Many elopers fled England, and the first Scottish village they encountered was Gretna Green. The Old Blacksmith's Shop, built around 1712, and Gretna Hall Blacksmith's Shop (1710) became, in popular folklore at least, the focal tourist points for the marriage trade. The Old Blacksmith's opened to the public as a visitor attraction as early as 1887.

The local blacksmith and his anvil have become the lasting symbols of Gretna Green weddings. Scottish law allowed for "irregular marriages", meaning that if a declaration was made before two witnesses, almost anybody had the authority to conduct the marriage ceremony. The blacksmiths in Gretna became known as "anvil priests".

Since 1929 both parties in Scotland have had to be at least 16 years old, but they still may marry without parental consent. In England and Wales, the age for marriage is now 16 with parental consent and 18 without.